Striper attachment for knitting-machines.



rim-634,510. Patented oct. nu; |899.

n. f. SULLIVAN. A

STRIRER ATTAGHMENT FR KNITTING MACHINES.

(Appucacmn fue Apr. 1o, 1899.)

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Patented Oct. 1G, |899;

` No. 634,5l'o

yn. F'. SULLIVAN. STRIPERA ATTACHMENT FUR KNTTING MACHINES.

(Lppuzma med Apr; 1o, 159'9.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2,

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` UNITED STATE-s PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL F. SULLIVAN, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE Y Y HALFTO JAMES A. CAW'LEY, OF SAME PLACE. l

STRIPER ATTACHMENT FOR KNiTTlNc-MACHINES;

` SIPE('JIFICA'IION forming part of Letters Patent No. 634,510,datedfoctober 10, 18,99, l

Applicant and ipnl 1o, 18,99.' salaire; 'nasse- (roman.)

To all whom .it r11/cpy concerne;

. Beit known that LDANIVEL F. SULLIVAN, of LowelL'county ofll'liddlesex, and State of Massachusetts, have madeeertainnew and use.

ful Improvements in Striper Attachments for Knitting-Machines, of whichthe following is a description sufiicientlyfull, clear, and exact toenable any person skilled in the art or sci` ence to which saidinvention appertains to make and use the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specication, in which-Figure l is a top plan view showing a por tion of the bed and a singlehead of a circularknitting machine; Fig. 2, a side elevation of thesame, partly in section; Fig. 3, a plan view of the slide andshippinglevers, partly inY horizontal section, on line 3v 3 inFig. 2;Fig. Il, a section on line 4 4 in Fig. 1, showing the cutter-wheel; andFig. 5, a front elevation of said wheel. .l i Y Like letters and figuresof reference indi: cate corresponding parts on the different figures ofthe drawings;

My invention relates especially to a mechanism for automaticallythrowing in andv out of action various'colo'red yarns in thecircular-knitting machine, the object being pan ticularly to overcomethe objections incident tothe use of many devices of this class,whereinit is possible to employ only yarns of two col# ors effectively, bysupplying a mechanism whereby a multiplicity of colors may be used inknitting a fabric, their action being positively governed by apattern-wheel.

A further objectobtained in my device is to throw a determined color outof action and sever it so nearly simultaneously with the insertion of asucceeding color that an almost inappreciable amount of double knittingresults, 4andin so severing the yarn when out of action that thesevering process shall not cause the undue tighten-ing or drawing oistitches already .formed with this color..

In carrying out my improvement I make* use o means which will bereadily'understood by all yconversant.with such matters from thefollowing explanation.

In the drawings, A represents the bed of a circnlar-knitting machine, Bthe cylinder, O the needles, D the head-plates, E the loopwheel, F thedividing-wheel, and G/the horn of the cylinder, an edgeof whichy isflattened slightly to aord room for the action ofA a 'are not shown inthe drawings, as they have no bearing on this invention; but I employ awheel K, similar in construction to the ordinary landing-wheel inverted,and I dispose it between the looper and the yarn-carriers outside thecylinder,

On the bed A, mounted in a frame ci, held by brackets b, there is aslide d, arranged radially of the cylinder and fitted to be movedhorizontally by a cam f on said cylinder engaging a wheel g on 4saidslide during each course. This slide carries a pallet h,tensioned by aspring z', connecting with the frame, Fig. 2, and which serves also toretract said slide. 'The pallet h engages ratchetteeth on apattern-.wheel P and rotates said wheel the distance of one toothforeach revolution of the cylinder. Said wheel in its periphery issnpplied with prearranged holes .in which pins j ji may be inserted forrespectively engaging levers k Z, pivoted in the frame a.' 'These leversk Z have a common pivot 'm and swing vertically in the frame above theslide d. The levers l are unlatching-levers, their ou ter ends beingbeveled at p, Fig. 2, and resting on the toes,respectively,of a seriesof dogs or latches q, which are tensioned by push-springs r. Theselatches are designed` to overlap and lock the outer ends of theyarn-carrier shipping-levers 7s when depressed, as hereinafterdescribed. In the device, as shown, I employ four carrier-levers 7c andfour latch-levers Z,- but this number may be varied at will, accordingto the number of .colors oi. yarn it-is desired to employ.y Eachlatch-leverY l Whas a boss or lug s on its upper face in position to beengaged by a pin ontherpattern-wheel, and the levers k have similar lugst for engagement by pins j, these pins depressing the outer ends ci'said levers at determined wheel I). A series of. bell-crank levers fu wa; y are mounted on a common pivot in the por push-downj ,these partsbeingall of the. well-knownarrangements, form, and `operation, exceptingthe horn G,vdisposed insideV cutter-wheel I-I, hereinafter described.The. ordinary presser-wheel and knock-'over wheel Y intervals in therevolution of the Apattern-l IOO frame, their short arms being each inengagement with the inner end of a lever 7u and their long armsconnected with the frame by a coiled spring In the vertical arm of eachbell-crank a rod 15 is ad j ustably secured and carries a link 16. Theselinks work on a fixed pin 17, fast in an arm 1S, adjustable on the frameby a screw 19. From each link there extends an arm 20, carrying on itsouter end a tube or yarn-guide 21. The bell-cranks and their supportedmechanism described constitute the yarn-carriers. The yarns 22 ofvarious colors are respectively threaded through the carrier-tubes 21 asthey come from the bobbins and before delivery to the needles C. Thecarriers are thrown into or out of act-ion by the operation of thelevers 7c, actuated by the pattern-wheelin manner to be describedhereinafter more specifically.V The outer ends of the levers 7tforcarriers out of action are normally hold depressed by the latches q.

The edge of the horn G, just in front of the looper E andlanding-wl'ieel K, is flattened at 23 to admit a vertically-arrangedcutter-wheel H, mounted to rotate on a fixed pivot 2G, adjustably heldby screw 27 in post 2S on said horn. The blades 30 of this cutter-wheel(see Fig. 5) radiate from its body and are formed for a shear cut andwith the rear corner of their outer ends chamfered at 31 to harmlesslyengage the work 33,(see Fig. 4,) by the tension of which saidcutter-wheel is rotated. A cutting-plate 35 is fast on pivot 26 inrubbing contact with the outer face of wheel H, with the blades 30 ofwhich it effects the shear cut described. On the nose of this platethere is a laterally-projecting stud 37, over which the thread 22 ispassed after being thrown out of action and before severing. Behind saidrotary cutter H and between it and the horn is disposed a portion ofwaste or ravelings 38, (indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1,) held byplates 39, screwed to the horn. This acts as a frictional hold for thesevered ends of the yarn 22.

In the use of my improvement the camf on plate D of the cylinder Bdrives the slide d and moves the pattern-wheel one tooth, as described.One yarn--the outer, as shown in Fig. 2-is in the needles and knitting.Each tooth of the pattern-wheel represents one course of the cylinder,so the pinsj 3'2 are arranged peripherally at distances apart determinedby the number of courses required for each color of yarn. When the lastcourse of this color is about being completed, a new color is thrown in.This throwing in is accomplished by a pin 7'2 on the pattern-wheelengaging boss s on the latch-lever Z, driving its outer end against alatch q and freeing the corresponding carrier-lever 7c therefrom, sothat its spring z acts to draw back or elevate the carrier into theposition of carrier c in Fig. 2. Its guide-tube 21 by this movementbeing depressed, the thread 22 is drawn across needles O, the tension ofthe waste 38 on the free end of the yarn, disposed in said Waste inmanner hereinafterdescribed, being sufficient to admit of this. The yarnis carried to the inverted landing-wheel K, which holds it down belowthe beards of the needles until it is taken by the looper and beginsknitting. Now after a predetermined interval a pin j on the wheel P willengage the boss t on the carrier-lever 7l; of the first-described yarn,depressing its outer end until the corresponding latch qoverrides andlocks it.` This movement elevates the short arin of the carrierbell-crank, driving its long arm, carrying the yarn, toward the cylinderor into the position shown for carriers w :c y. The

link 16 by this movement causes the tubeguide carried on its arm to beprojected vertically upward and over the heads of the needles and withinthe periphery of the cylinder. The cylinder still advancing` and thefirst thread continuing to draw through the guide is carried firstbehind the cutter-wheel H, and then (the drawing-point transcribing acircle) it crosses the periphery of the cutter-wheel (see dotted line50, Fig. 5) and is carried over the stud 37 on the fixed cutting-blade35. After this yarn leaves the looper E of course it does not knit, butthe tension is still retained until it has entered several of the bladesof the dividing-wheel F. At this point a tooth or blade 30 of thecutter-wheel Hwhich has continuously rotated by the coursing of the work33, drives said yarn against blade 35 and severs it. The strain exertedby the severing is resisted by the tension of the blades of thedividing-wheel, and thusv any pulling or puckering of the portionalready knit from this strand is prevented. The yarn in passing behindthe cutter-wheel entered the mass of waste 38, which exerts sufficientfriction thereon to retain the severed end projecting from the guide 2l,as indicated in the drawings for the carriers w y.. The end of the yarnis thus held for the throwing-in process above described. Aftersevering,as described, there is a loose or tag end of yarn left on thework in length the distance from the shear cut to the dividing-wheel F;but this, as will readily be understood, may easily be removed intrimming. The throwing in of a new color before the severing of thefirst yarn results in a portion of double weaving, but so slight is itthat it is deemed unobjectionable.

It will be seen that by means of my improved device as many yarns ofdierent colors may be used and alternated as desired, a change of theposition of pins in the patternwheel effecting this.

A salient feature of my invention lies in the fact that in throwing outa color it is accomplished instantly by guiding or directing it radiallyinside the cylinder, where it is immediately out of the way and cannotbe knit in double on itself. i

Other features are the preventing of drawing of the stitches whilesevering the yarn, the use of a shear cut for this purpose effect- IOOed within the cylinder, and the automatic re- Y tention of the severedend by waste friction, whereby the yarn may be returned to theneedleswithout stopping. Thistensiommoreover, `issuiiicient to hold saidend taut until the yarn is takenv by the looper, which renders the workmuch more effective.

Having thus explained my invention, what I claim is l. In a stripingdevice for circular-knitting machines a rotary yarn-cutter actuated bycontact with the finished portion of the knitted fabric.

2. In a striping device for 'circular-knitting machines a rotaryyarn-cutter actuated by contact of the blades with the'iinished portionof the knitted fabric and disposed in fixed position within Theneedle-circle.

3. In a striping device for circular-knitting machines, a rotaryyarn-cutter disposed within the cylinder and actuated by contact withthe finished fabric; a fixed blade coperating therewith; and aprojection on said blade for engaging and guiding the yarn as it leavesthe loop-wheel of said machine substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

n 4. In a device of the character described a cutter disposed Within the-needle-cylinder and a frictional packing behind said cutter into whichsaid cutter is arranged to direct a yarnzthrown out of action and beforeSevering it substantially as and for the purpose specified.

. 5. In a device of the character described, the horn; the cutter-Wheelmounted thereon and having radial blades in position to be engaged andactuated by the finished fabric;

the iixed' blade in rubbing contact with said Wheel and the projectionon said blade for guiding the thread as it is thrown in or out ofaction.

, 6. In a device of the character describedl the horn in combinationWith the iixed blade the rotary cutter-Wheel and the packing betweensaid horn and `Wheel.

7. In a device of the character described the horn disposed within thecylinder in combination with the vertical rotary cutter journaled onsaid horn and having blades in po sition to be engaged by the finishedWork a material distance from the needle-cylinder whereby said cutter isactuated; the iixed blade coacting with said cutter and provided withthe guide projection; and a holding device for retaining an end of thethread after being severed by said cutter.

Y DANIEL F. SULLIVAN.

Witnesses:

O. M. SHAW, C. WILBUR.

